The northern line, 1822-1846

Caminos y Presidios

Same posts. Different logistics.

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Thesis

Northern Mexico in 1846 was not empty. It was a military grid collapsing in place. After independence in 1821, an arc of presidios from Alta California to Texas remained on the map, but payroll, munitions, remounts, and roads thinned as Apache and Comanche pressure intensified.

Caminos mattered as much as forts: El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro and the Sonora–Tucson line were logistical lifelines that determined whether presidios could function as more than symbols.

By 1841 the minister of war described what remained as "immense deserts." The map survived. The supply did not. — Almonte, Memoria del Ministro de Guerra, January 1841.

Atlas

Drag or use keyboard arrows on the year slider to compare 1822 and 1846.

0 = 1822 and 100 = 1846. Intermediate positions show transitional decay.

  • Operational
  • Hollow
  • Abandoned
  • UNRESOLVED

Presidios

Twelve sample nodes from the northern grid. Rendered from the atlas dataset.

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Tours & Shop

Presidio Trail tours

Tucson to Janos to Casas Grandes. Join the interest list.

Pilot print 01

Limited print run coming soon.

Pilot print 01

Archival map plate